Opinion

Early voting going strong in Morgan County

Friday last day to vote early; mail-in ballot drop-off available

ByJENNI GRUBBS Times Staff Writer

Posted:
11/01/2012 01:17:30 PM MDT

Updated:
11/02/2012 09:20:18 AM MDT

A voter slips her mail-in ballot into the collection box at the Morgan County Clerk and Recorder's Office at 231 Ensign St. in Fort Morgan on Tuesday. Early voting for the 2012 General Election is also underway there.

Around 550 Morgan County residents had taken advantage of early voting as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Dep. Elections Clerk Erin Kral.

Early voting offers registered voters a chance to cast their ballot, either on paper or electronically, ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

There are six voting machines at the Morgan County Administration Building at 231 Ensign St. in Fort Morgan, and people can get paper ballots to fill out there, as well.

To vote early, registered voters only have to go to the administration building, show qualifying identification, have their registration status checked out, and then fill out a ballot, either electronically or on paper, she said.

A driver's license or passport is acceptable ID, but there are other documents that work, as well. For a list of documents that work for identification for voting, visit co.morgan.co.us/Elections.html.

Early voting runs until Nov. 2, with hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. And early voting hours will be extended to 6 p.m. today (Nov. 1) to accommodate work schedules for some people.

The early voting process seems to be going well in Morgan County.

"We haven't had any problems," Kral said.

But chances are running out to cast ballots ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, as only Thursday and Friday remain for early voting.

Mail-in/absentee voting

Electors also can drop off filled-out mail-in/absentee ballots at a collection box at the Morgan County Clerk and Recorder's Office.

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The Election Office will be open until 6 p.m. today, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Monday, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, which is Election Day.

The Morgan County Clerk and Recorder's office had received a total of 5,567 mail-in ballots as of Wednesday afternoon, both through the mail and having been dropped off in person.

More than 9,000 mail-in/absentee ballots were distributed to voters who opted in to that program, according to Morgan County Clerk and Recorder Connie Ingmire.

About 74 percent of Morgan County's registered voters are on the permanent mail-in ballot list, which is something people have to choose to be on.

And Friday is the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot for this election. The ballot then would have to be picked up at the Clerk and Recorder's Office in Fort Morgan, as it is too late for it to be mailed out.

For voters in the county still needing to mail back their ballot, only one 45-cent first-class postage stamp is needed to mail in the ballots.

But ballots sent through the mail must be received by the Clerk and Recorder's Office by 7 p.m. Tuesday. A postmark does not count as receipt, Ingmire warns.

Election Day

For those who want to vote on Election Day on Nov. 6, Morgan County will use vote centers, instead of smaller voting polling places in traditional precincts in each city or town.

That means that people would need to go to one of five locations to vote that day in Morgan County.

The vote centers will be at the county Administration Building in Fort Morgan, the Morgan County Fairgrounds in Brush, the Hillrose Town Hall, American Legion Post No. 19 at 16913 County Road 17.7 and the Wiggins Fire Hall.

Around 60 election judges will ensure the election runs fairly and smoothly at the vote centers, according to Ingmire.

"We'll have some veteran judges out at the vote centers, so that always helps," she said.

The election judges also ensure that voters have the necessary ID to vote.

Anyone who shows up to vote on Election Day without proper ID would need to fill out a provisional ballot.

"We never turn anyone down," she said, adding that provisional ballots take longer both to fill out and to process, since they undergo lots of scrutiny to ensure the vote was legal.

And while many people have taken advantage of early voting and mail-in ballot, Ingmire said she still expects plenty of people to turn out to vote on Nov. 6.

She said her team is ready for whatever the election brings over the next two weeks, including any last-minute problems that could "pop up."

"We have to be flexible," she said. "And we have to be very careful with the process so citizens know every ballot gets counted."

Anyone with questions about the election or voting can call Ingmire's office at 970-542-3521 or visit 321 Ensign St. in Fort Morgan. And lots more election information, including voter registration status, is available online at govotecolorado.com.

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